Pregnancy Update: Week 20 - It's A...

20 weeks!

It boggles my mind that I am half-way through this pregnancy already! Time really has flown by (though I fully expect it to slow down in the last month). It's amazing how quickly your life can change.

Today was THE day; the long-awaited day on which we would find out the sex of our sweet little one! G and I were pretty confident it was a boy. For some reason, it just "felt" like a boy. So what if you can't actually "feel" the sex of the baby? Anyway, I had been so certain this entire week that it was a boy, when last night, all of a sudden, I no longer felt sure. What if it wasn't a boy? What if it was a girl? Even before I found out I was pregnant, I knew I would love our baby regardless of the sex. I don't think one sex is better, or even easier, than the other. Yet I did like the idea of having a little boy first, both because he would be the "firstborn son" in every way, and he could play protecter to other children we hope to have down the road. Plus, my husband's family is notorious for having boys first (if any girls enter the picture at all)! On my dad's side of the family, I was born first, and so was my cousin. We're both big sisters to our younger brothers. For this reason, I knew it could go either way for our baby.

All morning long, I was so excited and wound up. I ate a little for breakfast, but had no appetite until after the ultrasound appointment and prenatal checkup. I picked up Hubby about thirty minutes before the appointment, and we were off. As you can imagine, everything seemed to take a long time. When we got to the appointment, we had to wait a bit before we were called back for the ultrasound. Then, we had to wait even longer (and mostly in silence) for the ultrasound technician to take measurements of the baby and get the necessary photos. Because of how the room was laid out, I wasn't able to see the screen at first (though G got to watch while the technician worked). Finally, when it was time to learn the sex of the baby, she turned the screen around so I could see it and asked my husband to come closer to me. She went through each of our concerns, and said the baby looked healthy. I watched the screen as she spoke, and suddenly felt overwhelmed. That was our baby! When I found out about the pregnancy, I didn't cry. When I heard the heartbeat for the first time, there still were no tears. But when I saw my baby on that screen, a rush of emotion hit me, and I finally cried. They were tears of joy, of course! Then the moment we had been waiting for arrived, and the technician told us the news: It's a GIRL! G and I both were in shock! We couldn't be happier though (and aren't a bit disappointed about it not being a boy), and now I can get excited about little bows, ruffles, and frilly things.

Anyway, by the time we got home, I was hungry and exhausted. It's amazing how much energy it takes to be so excited! I ate a small meal, then proceeded to finish calling family members (which G and I started doing in the car on the way home) to tell them the news. What a day!

Our little baby girl!

Hubby and I decided to eat dinner out tonight, and then we went to BabiesRUs to pick out something girly. We settled on a cute pair of baby shoes, which is our first gender-specific purchase! Mom had the same idea, and also went out to get some girly baby things. This little girl is already so loved, and we won't meet her face to face for 20-ish more weeks!

The first of many girly things!

In other news, I've eaten a lot of red meat this week, which is a great source of iron but it made me sluggish and uncomfortable. My belly is continuing to grow and stretch, and I've had some occasional muscle pain. It isn't severe, but it makes getting around and sitting still rather unpleasant sometimes. It takes me a little while to fall asleep at night now, even when I'm tired after a busy day. At my last prenatal checkup, the midwife told me that my Vitamin D was just a little low, and this time they recommended taking a supplement to ensure that it stays within the normal range. That's everything I can think of for now! Thank you, Lord, for a healthy baby girl!